Chaifetz School Senior Katie LaMarca Applies Business Concepts to Her Internship and
Beyond

From a bottle of shampoo to a box of tea, you have probably noticed a little blue
'U' on the back of many products. Katie LaMarca, a senior marketing major at the Chaifetz
School of Business, secured an internship with Unilever, a global consumer company
behind the mark, in the summer 2018. Her internship helped her gain the skills she
needed to land a full-time position in the rotational assignment program at Medline
Industries after graduation.

Chaifetz School of Business senior, Katie LaMarca, interns at Unilever.

Working for The Right to Shower Brand

As a marketing intern in Unilever's headquarters in Englewood, New Jersey, LaMarca
developed potential ideas for the brand, The Right to Shower. The brand contains a
variety of cleansing products, the proceeds from which go toward building mobile showers
for the homeless.

In preparing for the brand's official launch in February 2019, LaMarca conducted research
on consumer preferences and the six Ps of marketing: passion, product, people, place,
price and promotion. She also executed growth strategies, competition comparison,
website design, social media ideas and more.

"By working at a huge corporate company at their North American HQ, I learned not
to be afraid to take initiative," LaMarca said. "Even as an intern, I had full autonomy
over my projects which was hard for me to grasp at first, but my manager was always
encouraging."

How She Landed the Internship

LaMarca's curriculum at the Chaifetz School of Business provided a foundation of useful
skills for her to use and build upon in her internship with Unilever.

"My intro to marketing and consumer behavior classes prepared me a lot for my internship,"
LaMarca said. "A lot of the case studies I’ve done in various courses helped with
analyzing my projects and coming up with new ideas and plans."

More than 85% of the Chaifetz School's graduating class of 2018 completed an internship
like Katie's before graduation.

By encouraging students to get a head start in the internship process, SLU's Career
Resources Center assisted LaMarca in finding her internship.

"I worked with Alison Roba [in the CRC] to perfect my resume and learn how to navigate
Handshake [an interactive tool in matching students to internships]," LaMarca said.
"After finding Unilever, I met with Alison again to prepare for a long interview process.
Meeting with her made me feel confident and definitely helped with my nerves and ability
to interview."

The business curriculum and Career Resources Center at SLU prepared LaMarca with the
necessary tools to be successful at Unilever and allow room for growth.

"From my internship, I learned a lot of great communication skills, organization skills
and how product management works. I learned to not be afraid to ask questions, and
everyone was always willing to help me get started on any ideas or projects," LaMarca
said.

Gaining experience in her internship at Unilever, acquiring business knowledge and
improving her interview skills equipped LaMarca with the necessary foundation to kickstart
her career, she added. Medline Industries Headquarters in Northfield, Illinois offered
LaMarca a full-time position in their rotational assignment program before graduation.